Car replacer



D. A. BENNER Nov. 26, 1940.

'CAR REPLACER Filed Feb. 5, 1940 Patented Nov. 26, 1940 rA'rENT, OFFICE CAR REPLACER Dale ArBenner, Alton, Ill.

Application February 5, 1940, Serial No. 317,265

3 Claims.

' This invention relates to car replacers; and has special reference to devices for use in placing cars upon tracks originally, or replacing the cars upon tracks from which they have become derailed.

Objects of the invention are to provide an improved car replacer for initially placing cars upon the tracks for which they are intended, or

, subsequently replacing cars upon tracks from which they have become derailed; to provide. a device for this purpose that is easily portable and capable of application to rails of different types and sizes without the use of separate auxiliary retaining elements; to provide a car replacer including a frame of novel construction adapted to engage rails of different dimensions and having a skid pivoted thereto for extension to either side of the rail, andimproved guiding means for guiding the wheels onto the skid and thereby'to the track rail; :and to provide means in connection with the rail-engaging frame for preventing lateral or longitudinal displacement thereof when applied to any of the rails for which the device is intended.

Various other objects and advantages will appear from the following description, reference being made to the annexed drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved car replacer in connection with a track rail.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the skid in solid lines at one side of the rail and in broken lines at the op osite side.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view on the line 34 of Fig. 1, showing the frame seated directly upon the top surface of a relatively small rail.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view on the line 3-4 of Fig. 1, showing the device applied to a rail of heavier weight and larger dimensions.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view on the line 6--6 of Fig. 1.

The rail-engaging frame of my improved car replacer is an integral member comprising a top wall 1; two downwardly diverging legs 2 integral with the Side edges of said top wall; and a shoe 3 having one end integral with the top wall I and having its upper surface 4 curving downwardly to intersection with its lower edge and with the upper surface of the rail 5 when applied as shown in Fig. 1. The inner surfaces 6 of the legs 2 curve downwardly away from each other so as to obtain effective clamping engagement with the top 1 of a larger rail.

When applied as shown in-Fig. 3, the top of the rail '5 engages the underside of the top wall 1, and the upper portions of the curvedsurfaces 6 of the legs 2 engage against opposite sides of the rail. When the device is applied to a larger rail, as ShO-Wlllll'l 4, the wall I is supported abovethetop portion II .of the rail by engagement of the curved surfaces .6 with the rail. In this instancathe frame may tilt orincline suficiently to permit the outer end of the shoe 3 to en, gage the rail tube. The legs "2 may be relatively thin .inorder to obtain lightness of weight, and reinforced orstrengthened by marginal'flangesB andan intermediate flange 9 along each leg. Outwardlyextended base flanges I0 are formed. i ral with'theilower ends of the legs 2 .and" flanges 8 and 9, and the flange Ill .ateach side' of the frame has a downwardly extended pointed calk H adapted to. extend .into cross-ties supporting thetrackirails.

A skid, preferably in the form of a channel member, has its upper portion [2 connected with the frame of the device by a. pivot I3. The end M of the portion i2 is rounded concentrically with the axis of the pivot l3 and is received within a complementary recess in the adjacent end of the shoe 3, so that the skid may be swun from one side to the other side of the rail and to different angular positions with respect to the rail. The parts are assembled so that the adja-.

cent upper surfaces of the shoe 3 and the skid portion l3 are in substantial alinement.

The remaining portion of the skid is of channel formation comprising an upper wall I5 curving downwardly from the portion l2, and downwardly extended flanges l6 integral with the sides of said portions l2, and I5. The lower end of the skid terminates in a downwardly extended hook I! adapted to engage in a tie or in the track bed to cooperate with the frame in holding the device in position for use. The lower end of the skid is formed with integral laterally extended walls 18 from which the downwardly flaring and upwardly converging flanges l9 rise, leaving spaces 20 to receive the flanges of the car wheels. Downwardly extended lugs 2| formed integral with the sides of the shoe 3 cooperate with the rail embracing frame and with the calks l l and the pointed end H to hold the device properly alined on the rail and to prevent the device from slipping along the rail.

'A device made in this manner possesses the necessary strength to resist the stresses and to support the weights to which it is subjected, and is of comparatively light weight so that it is easily portable. No separate wedges or other separate and unattached devices are required to hold the unitary replacer in proper adjustment and position for use. The skid is freely movable from one side to the other about the pivot I3 so as to locate the lower end thereof in position for engagement by the derailed wheel. The side surfaces of the portion I2 of the skid and the side walls of the shoe 3 are approximately in the same vertical planes as the side walls of the rail tops, so that the car wheels leaving the shoe will engage the rails properly with the wheel flanges at the inner sides of said rails.

The device contains a minimum of material to afford the necessary strength and rigidity; may be made at relatively low cost, and varied within the scope of equivalent limits without departure from the nature and principle of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a car replacer, a frame including two downwardly and outwardly curved gripper legs arranged to receive between them and grip against opposite sides of the tops of car rails of different sizes while leaving the lower portions q of said legs beyond and wholly out of contact side of said skid, and a downwardly extended hook on the lower end of said skid preventing substantial movement of said skid relative to said frame when the replacer is in position for use.

2. In a car replacer, a frame including two 40 downwardly and outwardly curved gripper legs arranged to receive between them and grip against opposite sides of the tops of car rails of different sizes while leaving the lower portions of said legs beyond and wholly out of contact with the rails, flanges projecting outwardly from said legs and substantially preventing outward bending thereof, pointed calks integral with and projecting downwardly beyond the lower ends of said legs for extension into the tops of cross ties supporting said rails, a shoeintegral with the upper portions of said legs and extending beyond said frame to abut against the top of the rail upon which the frame is mounted, a skid having one end pivoted to the top of said frame in alinement with said shoe, and flanges integral with opposite sides of the lower end portion of said skid forming spaces for guiding the flanges of car wheels properly against one side of said skid.

3. In a car replacer, a frame including two downwardly and outwardly curved gripper legs arranged to receive between them and grip against opposite sides of the tops of car rails of different sizes while leaving the lower portions of said legs beyond and wholly out of contact with the rails, flanges projecting outwardly from said legs and substantially preventing outward bending thereof, pointed calks integral with and projecting downwardly beyond the lower ends of said legs for extension into the tops of cross ties supporting said rails, a shoe integral with the upper portions of said legs and extending beyond said frame to abut against the top of the rail upon which the frame is mounted, a skid having one end pivoted to the top of said frame in alinement with said shoe, and a downwardly extended hook on the lower end of said skid preventing substantial displacement of said skid relative to the rail to which the replacer is applied.

DALE A. BENNER. 40 

